Signedunsigned
Inscribedat the top of the chart: AMBLYCORYPHA ROTUNDIFOLIA
on first strip (written upside down in pencil): Roundwinged Katydid 9200~ Aug 4 '36
on fifth strip (inscribed into tape surface with tool): amblycorypha rotundifolia 10 KC/ Sept 16 '37
Historical AttributesGeorge Washington Pierce first became interested in this insect-chirping project because he was a physics professor at Harvard, and a sub-branch of physics is acoustics. He took a leave of absence from Harvard during WWI to engage in studies of acoustics for the Submarine and Anti-Submarine bases of the US Navy in 1917-1918. He also gave graduate courses in radio communication and acoustic signaling (which involves the production, transmission, and reception of sound signal in air and also water)
(Pierce, 7).
Pierce had an elaborate process for collecting and recording insect noises. The insect sounds were initially detected through a "sound receiver," to detect insect location in field. Then, the insect was observed by Pierce through a lens, captured in a net, carried to a lab, and classified (Pierce, 12-27). The insect's musical sounds recorded by a portable field apparatus with a loudspeaker, at the end of an amplifier box, which incorporated a method of making a record of the pulsations on moving tape (Pierce, 23). These pulsations are inscribed on the white strips with red markings seen on the matte board.
Primary SourcesGeorge Washington Pierce, The Songs of Insects , (Cambridge: Harvard University Press,1948.)